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Luxury line Regent Seven Seas orders new ship

Regent Seven Seas Cruises soon will have a new ship -- it's first in more than a decade. The top-rated luxury line today announced it had entered into a definitive contract with Italy's Fincantieri shipyard

To be named Seven Seas Explorer, the ship will hold 738 passengers, about 5% more than the biggest of Regent's three current vessels. But at 54,000 tons, it'll be about 12% bigger, resulting in more space per passenger.

Like Regent's Seven Seas Voyager and Seven Seas Mariner, the Seven Seas Explorer will be an all-suite ship, and at $450 million, the most expensive luxury vessel ever built, the company says.

Only a handful of luxury lines, including Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and Silversea Cruises, offer all-suite ships.

Regent says the Seven Seas Explorer will debut in the summer of 2016.

"This new ship order represents an exciting time of growth for our company as we build the next generation of cruise ships for the world's most inclusive luxury cruise line," Frank Del Rio, the chairman and CEO of Regent's parent company, says in a statement accompanying the announcement. "Seven Seas Explorer will be the most luxurious cruise ship ever built."

Regent says Seven Seas Explorer will boast one of the highest ratios of space to passengers ever for a cruise ship, and one of the highest staff-to-passenger ratios. The ship's 369 suites will range from 300 to 1,500 square feet, and the vessel will have six open-seating gourmet restaurants, a spacious Canyon Ranch SpaClub and a two-story theater.

The addition of Seven Seas Explorer will boost Regent's fleetwide passenger capacity by about 40%, marking a major expansion at a line that hasn't grown in years. The order comes in the wake of expansions in recent years at rival luxury lines Seabourn Cruise Line, Silversea Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. Read about Hapag-Lloyd's just-unveiled new luxury ship.